SHOOTING COVERAGE
‘ZUBEIDA’ IN THE MAKING
A Love Story In The Times Of The Maharaja
A gruelling 8-hour bus ride (all thanks to an unscheduled truck accident ahead of Lonavala) from Bombay lands one at the Turf Club in Pune. The moment one drags one’s tired self (not to mention the aching body from the bus ride) to enter the main hall at the club, a loud voice is heard, “Quiet! Action!” The next moment, strains of an extremely ear-pleasing waltz piece begin to fill the room. As one looks around, smart-looking couples, all dressed in Western formals, gracefully perform the ball-dance in a sepia-toned, mood-lit ambience. A camera, mounted on a trolley, swoops from a height and pulls out to cover the entire room. “Cut! Okay,” shouts the director. The shot is canned. The usual running about of the crew in between shots begins.
The film in question, of course, is Shyam Benegal’s latest — Zubeida. Produced by Farouq, it stars Rekha, Karisma Kapoor and Manoj Bajpai in the lead roles, supported by Amrish Puri, Lillette Dubey, Rajit Kapur, Ravi Jhankal, Surekha Sikri, Farida Jalal and Shakti Kapoor. There are six songs, penned by Javed Akhtar and composed by A.R. Rahman, in the film.
Zubeida is the love story of a Rajasthani princely ruler (Maharaja) and a commoner, set in the late 1940s. The Maharaja, Vijayendra Singh a.k.a. Victor (Manoj Bajpai), has been married during his early years to a princess (Rekha) who is much older than him. He has since married again — a young and beautiful commoner (Karisma Kapoor). Tradition decrees that the first wife get the official status of Maharani, which, sometimes, creates a conflict in the mind of the second wife. This is also the time when the merger of Indian princely states into the Indian Union has just begun. The kingdoms and the titles of the ruling Maharajas are being taken away by the newly-formed democratic government of India. Maharaja Vijayendra Singh is no exception and he, too, is about to lose his state. At such tumultuous times, how he grapples with the trauma of having to lose his state and whether he is able to impart her rightful place as the Maharani to the younger wife, who he dotes on, forms the crux of the story which is written by Khalid Mohammed.
“It is a commercial film,” declares producer Farouq who has earlier made the hit Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Khud-daar, and the Mahesh Bhatt-directed Kaash. “Why can’t Shyam Benegal make a love story?”, he asks and then, adds, “Benegal is a good director, and a good director can make any kind of film he wants to. He has treated Zubeida as a commercial project from the very beginning. For instance, he has chosen A.R. Rahman to score music of this film when all his earlier films have had music by Vanraj Bhatia. This is true even for the artistes in Zubeida, who are not the ones he usually works with.”
But then, Shyam Benegal’s films sometimes don’t find theatrical release, do they? “That may be true only for his last two films, Samar and Hari Bhari. But that is only because they were funded by the NFDC and we all know how the government functions. This won’t happen in the case of Zubeida,” counters Farouq. And what gives him the confidence? “Simply because the story of Zubeida is such that it will appeal to a huge audience. It is, after all, a romance between a Maharaja and a commoner and I see no reason why a large audience would not want to see it. Besides, we are making the film within a reasonable budget, which gives me the confidence that I’ll be able to recover my costs. The only reason why I have not sold my film yet is because I want to first complete the film and then show it to some distributors before deciding on the ratio. In any case, I will not be asking for a fancy price for Zubeida.”
Finally, the obvious question — why only three films in 18 years? “Actually, for quite some time, I remained put off by the way this industry functioned. There is no transparency in dealings here. Even though my first film, Khud-daar, was a big hit, my distributors let me down. The film went on to do very well at the box-office, but the money never came. On the other hand, my second attempt, Kaash, turned out to be a loser. Either way, it was a ‘no-win’ situation for me. Fortunately, things have changed in the industry of late, which gave me the impetus to make another attempt. If this works, I’ll go on to make another film, but if it doesn’t, I’ll get out of the industry,” insists Farouq.
Meanwhile, rehearsal for another shot begins. Choreographer Ewa Cheruqui (Polish-born now settled in Pune) is busy explaining a few ball-room dancing steps to dancers as the director finds a little free time for a chat. When asked how Karisma was faring in the film, Benegal raved, “She is marvellous! She is a director’s actress and is wonderfully refreshing in her responses. I hadn’t seen a single film of hers when I signed her for Zubeida, and I am glad, I hadn’t, because maybe, I may have then had second thoughts about casting her in my film (laughs)! As for Manoj, he has a magnetic presence. Even though this is a very challenging role — in the sense that he has never played such a wealthy and sophisticated character in films before — Manoj has done a brilliant job.”
Okay, so what about the tag that ‘Shyam Benegal makes only non-commercial films’? “Nonsense!”, asserts the director, “I have made 22 films so far and each one is a commercial film. Some, like Kalyug, Junoon and Ankur, did well and some others didn’t.
“What you must understand is that some films entertain larger audience while others, smaller audience. In the case of Zubeida, this is a subject that I believe has immense possibility of popular interest. It is like this: Films cost a lot of money to make. So, whenever you make a film, you have to ask yourself whether this film will be a successful film, whether it will recover its cost and hopefully, make some profit. Only after you are convinced of these things do you begin the project. You always make a film with the hope and conviction that it will do well, otherwise, why would you make a film in the first place? The same is true for Zubeida.”
“The reason why I chose Rahman to do the music was because I needed a different character of music for this film,” the director explained. “This is not to say that I consider Vanraj Bhatia to be any less. Rahman has done an excellent job in the film and I am confident that you will hear a fresh Rahman in it. The music itself is such that it gives you a sense of the past while, at the same time, pleases the contemporary ear.”
Rehearsals over, Benegal returns to his seat behind the Video Assist (monitor) from where he shouts out instructions to the crew. Another take begins.
Manoj Bajpai is not needed for this shot. He is required for the one after that though, so he requests that questions be kept to the barest minimum. That settled, he rattles off, “When Shyam Benegal offered Zubeida to me, I asked him five times whether he was sure, he wanted me to do this role. This was because I do not have the looks of conventional Maharajas in Hindi films. I even told him that he could change his mind whenever he felt like it, but he insisted, I did it.
“Working with Shyam Benegal is a tremendous experience. He has so much to teach you that you are able to stretch your performance to the limit. He gives you complete freedom to do what you want to do, provided you convince him. Invariably, it is he who succeeds in convincing you,” so saying, he makes a polite exit to take his place on the set for the next shot. A couple of more takes are canned. Finally, only one shot remains to be taken, which is a close-up shot of Manoj Bajpai and Karisma Kapoor. The first take is “Fine, but we will take one more”. The director wants it to be more intense. Another take. Then another. Seventeen takes later, the shot is okayed. A beaming Benegal announces ‘pack-up’.
Karisma Kapoor, even though visibly exhausted, gamely agrees to speak about Zubeida. “It has been a great honour for me to work with a director of the calibre of Shyam Benegal.”
Rushing to her room to get a well-deserved rest after the shooting, she asserts, “I have already proved myself as a star, but now, I want to be recognised as a good actress. Today, I want to do different roles. I want to do roles that I will be remembered for in the years to come!” So be it , Karisma. Or as Zubeida might say, ‘Insha Allah’!
– RAJ VAIDYA
LATEST POSITION
There were more agitations against HEY! RAM than appreciation for the film which has been rejected by the majority of the audience.
Hey! Ram is a loser. It has done well only in select cinemas in some cities. 1st week Bombay 40,68,460 (77%) from 9 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 8,49,684 from 4 cinemas; Pune 12,24,264 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon), Solapur 1,82,610; Hubli 2,21,618; Delhi 27,79,086 (64.04%) from 5 cinemas; Kanpur 58,799, Lucknow 4,54,503, Agra 99,859, Varanasi 94,279, Allahabad 1,17,720, Dehradun 1,21,000; Amritsar 58,000; Calcutta 9,66,587 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 3,44,735, Amravati (6 days) 1,32,678, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,26,206; Indore 1,34,723 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 94,371; Jaipur 5,02,570; Hyderabad (gross) 18,45,082 from 4 cinemas.
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Devi (dubbed) 1st week Bombay 5,02,975 (71.65%) from 2 cinemas (2 on F.H.); Pune 97,091; Calcutta 6,49,936 from 9 cinemas; Nagpur 1,73,320 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 40,936, Amravati (6 days) 66,039, Raipur (6 days) 33,324.
Badal has maintained well in U.P., East Punjab, Bihar and is fair in Nizam, but drops in Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, C.P. and C.I. 2nd week Bombay 29,17,419 (62.20%) from 9 cinemas (10 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 5,96,003 from 6 cinemas, Himmatnagar 82,310, Vapi 2,46,024, total 10,59,789, Cambay 1,04,402, total 2,77,128, Jamnagar (matinee) 14,880 (1 in regular unrecd.), 1st week Adipur 1,43,574 (76.82%), 2nd week Bhuj 71,735; Pune 5,29,496 from 5 cinemas, Solapur 1,77,739 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 23,25,085 from 12 cinemas (3 on F.H.); Kanpur 4,03,141 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 4,14,074, Agra 3,51,000, Allahabad 2,31,500, Bareilly 2,14,780, Dehradun 1,28,000 (1st 2,35,000), Hardwar 60,000; Calcutta 12,05,856 from 9 cinemas; Nagpur 1,80,370, Jabalpur (gross) 2,34,456, Amravati 1,45,024, Akola 1,47,038, total 3,74,277, share 3,03,575, Raipur (6 days, gross) 2,37,627, Bhilai 94,150, Durg 73,866, total 1,93,190, Jalgaon (6 days) 1,04,510, Chandrapur 2,41,020; Indore 1,53,000 (1 on F.H.), Bhopal 87,000; Jaipur 4,60,781 from 2 cinemas, Ajmer (gross) 1,94,580, 1st week Bikaner 2,86,310; 2nd week Hyderabad (gross) 5,59,885 from 3 cinemas (1 in noon, 2 on F.H,); 1st week Mangalore 1,85,369.
Pukar 3rd week Bombay 22,18,817 (44.91%) from 8 cinemas (9 on F.H.; 2 unrecd.); Ahmedabad 8,70,721 from 7 cinemas, Jamnagar 45,988; Pune 5,23,263 from 3 cinemas, Solapur 80,671 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Delhi 14,22,642 from 7 cinemas (1 on F.H.); Kanpur 1,61,915 from 2 cinemas, Agra 95,000, Varanasi 1,11,718, Allahabad 70,025, Bareilly (6 days) 39,718, Dehradun 1,05,582; Calcutta 4,11,668 from 5 cinemas; Nagpur 1,96,326 from 2 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 39,108, Amravati (6 days) 90,461, Akola 98,499, total 4,09,423, Raipur (6 days, gross) 91,045, Bhilai 86,957, Jalgaon (6 days) 50,610; Indore 1,44,068 from 2 cinemas; Ajmer (gross) 74,580; Hyderabad (gross) 8,92,902 from 4 cinemas (1 in noon).
The World Is Not Enough (dubbed) 3rd week Bombay 1,23,139 from 2 cinemas; Ahmedabad 1,89,871 from 2 cinemas, Baroda 99,134; Delhi 5,10,707 from 4 cinemas; Kanpur 53,936, 2nd week Lucknow 52,350, 3rd week Agra 29,000, Varanasi 46,371, Allahabad 40,157, 1st week Muzaffarnagar 80,000, 1 week Hardwar 40,000; 3rd week Nagpur 84,313, 1st week Amravati 2,10,326, 2nd week Bhilai 73,541; 3rd week Bhopal 48,090; 2nd week Jaipur 1,68,210.
Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani 5th week Bombay 13,36,773 (45.29%) from 8 cinemas; Pune 2,44,801 from 3 cinemas (1 in matinee); Kanpur 49,498 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 1,44,412, Allahabad 30,681, 1st week Hardwar 25,000; 5th week Calcutta 1,49,811; 2nd week Jabalpur (6 days) 84,772; 5th Bhopal 31,270; Hyderabad (gross, noon) 36,539.
Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai is simply and splendidly sensational. 6th week Bombay 43,20,985 (99.02%) from 10 cinemas (6 on F.H.); Ahmedabad 2,91,141 from 2 cinemas, Baroda 2,38,588 (96.66%) , 6 weeks’ share 11 lakh, Vapi 1,79,166, total 21,66,361, Jamnagar 63,184, total 5,47,467; Pune 11,56,089 from 4 cinemas (1 in matinee), Solapur 2,06,524 from 2 cinemas (1 in matinee); Dharwad 69,847; Delhi 20,47,856 from 6 cinemas; Kanpur 2,59,498 from 2 cinemas, Lucknow 3,68,338, Agra 1,81,000, Varanasi 1,78,339, Allahabad 1,12,706, Bareilly (6 days) 75,898, 5th week Dehradun 1,54,879, 6th week Muzaffarnagar 30,000, 3rd Hardwar 70,000; 6th week Calcutta 11,49,204 from 6 cinemas; Nagpur 4,27,929 from 3 cinemas, Jabalpur (6 days) 1,31,928, Amravati (6 days) 1,24,421, Akola 1,44,442, Raipur (6 days) 1,41,304, Bhilai 62,840, 1st week Gondia (29 shows, gross) 1,72,912, 5th week Chandrapur 1,55,697, total 9,90,801; 6th week Bhopal 1,84,007; Jaipur 2,55,485, 4th week Bikaner 98,849; 6th Hyderabad (gross) 11,53,457 from 5 cinemas (1 in noon); 4th week Mangalore 1,27,618.
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CINEMA OWNER DEAD
Narmada Sitaram Desai Topiwala, owner of Topiwala Theatre, Goregaon, Bombay, expired in the morning hours of 21st February in Bombay. She was 59 and is survived by her daughter.
The cinema remained closed on 21st.
SHRADDHA PANCHOTIA NO MORE
Former actress of Gujarati films, Shraddha Panchotia, mother of actresses Deepshikha and Aakruti, passed away on 21st February following a railway accident at Goregaon, Bombay. She was 45. Shraddha had acted in a few Gujarati films. She gave up acting following her marriage with director Ashwini Kumar Nagpal.
‘HEY! RAM’ CLOUDED IN CONTROVERSIES
Kamal Haasan’s Hey! Ram has stirred controversies in different parts of the country, as expected. Congressmen, especially, are angry over what they describe as the incorrect portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in the film.
Incidents of of violent people, mostly Congress workers, tearing posters of the film and damaging properties of cinemas screening the period drama have been reported from cities like Delhi, Calcutta, Varanasi, Nagpur, Indore, Bhopal etc. There were protests outside Priya cinema in Delhi on 21st February. The agitation against the film spread to Varanasi on 24th with Congress workers stoning and damaging the film’s posters at the local Mazda Picture Palace where it is being screened. A dharna was also staged by them in front of the cinema and they demanded that the screening be immediately stopped as there were objectionable references in it, which had “tarnished” the image of Mahatma Gandhi. The protesters accused the BJP and RSS of stalling the shooting of an “unmade” film (Water) by Deepa Mehta while deliberately allowing the screening of Hey! Ram. The film’s screening was stopped for a while but was resumed after police protection was provided.
Police had to intervene in Nagpur at Smruti cinema too on Wednesday (23rd) when the protesters got unruly and gheraoed the mayor of Nagpur who was viewing the film in her personal capacity. She had to leave the cinema under police escort. Some youth organisations gave an ultimatum to remove the film from Smruti within two days. However, the screening is being continued under police protection.
In Calcutta, Mitra and Priya cinemas bore the brunt of agitators. Members of the state Congress unit stormed Mitra cinema first and Priya cinema on Tuesday (22nd) and shouted slogans against the “filthy” film. Several female patrons, who had gone to see the film at Priya, were also heckled by the protesters. The agitation took a violent turn when a small police force arrived on the spot at Priya to combat the situation. In the ensuing melee, bricks and stones were hurled at the cinema by the agitators. Peace was restored only after reinforcements were rushed in, following which the police resorted to a mild lathi charge and arrested seven demonstrators. The film has been continued at the cinema without cancellation of a single show. Even though the Pradesh Congress Committee vice president issued orders to stop the agitation after being reprimanded by the party high command, police pickets have been posted at all the cinemas screening Hey! Ram in the city.
In Indore, the shows at Regal cinema on 25th February had to be cancelled following agitations by Congressmen. Similar protests were registered in Bhopal where the film is continuing to be screened.
BONEY, SANTOSHI VISIT GOLDIE CINEMA IN AURANGABAD
Producer Boney Kapoor with Sridevi, and director Rajkumar Santoshi with his wife visited Goldie cinema in Aurangabad on 22nd February. They were on their way to Shirdi. Pukar is being screened at Goldie.
Deepak Jawaharani felicitated the producer and director of Pukar as well as its Nizam distributor, Ravi Machhar, and Sridevi and Mrs. Santoshi. Speaking on the occasion, Boney said that it was creditable that at a time when demolition of cinemas was the in-thing, a new cinema like Goldie had been constructed in Aurangabad.
WIFPA ANNOUNCES GROUP INSURANCE FOR MEMBERS
To commemorate the new millennium, the Western India Film Producers’ Association (WIFPA) is introducing a group insurance scheme for its members. Under the scheme, every regular member will be insured to the extent of Rs. 50,000 with the New India Assurance Co. Ltd. The premium will be borne by the WIFPA.
‘PUKAR’ TAX-FREE IN M.P.
Boney Kapoor’s Pukar has been granted exemption from payment of entertainment tax in Madhya Pradesh for six months. The letter granting exemption was received on 23rd February, and the film began to be screened at tax-free rates from 24th.
ANUPAM KHER’S ‘BARIWALI’ BAGS NETPAC AWARD AT BERLINALE
Anupam Kher’s maiden production venture, Bariwali (in Bengali), won the NETPAC award for the best Asian film at the recently-concluded Berlin film festival. Directed by Rituparno Ghosh, the film stars Anupam’s wife, Kiron Kher, in the central role.
PANIC IN PUNJAB OVER ILLEGAL SCREENINGS
The Punjab film trade, it would appear, is going from bad to worse. As if cable piracy of new films is not enough, film people themselves are indulging in illegal practices.
A cinema of Karnal recently screened Pukar illegally. Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai was shown illegally by a cinema in Amritsar. Prints of the film are, obviously, obtained from undisclosed sources.
‘PHIR BHI DIL HAI…’ TAX-FREE IN M.P.
Shah Rukh, Juhi and Aziz Mirza’s Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani has been granted exemption from payment of entertainment tax for a period of six months in Madhya Pardesh. The film began to be screened at tax-free rates from 24th February.
YOU ASKED IT
What is going wrong with our films? Why are hardly any films sustaining at the box-office? Is there no corrective action that can be taken?
– Producers are making proposals. And many of them are successful. When they start making films, they will get success there too!
I have a 2-hero subject. Should I take both relatively new heroes; or one relatively new and the other who has been around for, say, 10 to 12 years; or both heroes who have been around for 10 to 12 years; or one who has been around for 10 or 12 years with one who has been around for 15 to 20 years?
– The audience wants to see fresh faces. Subject to your story requirements, you can plan a film with a relatively new hero and one who has been around for 10 or 12 years.
Films are not doing well. Also, there aren’t too many new releases in the coming four to six weeks. How will the exhibitors feed their cinemas?
– By screening repeat-run films or extending the run of dull films. Distributors will make hay while the sun does not shine on the industry.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & LAUNCHINGS
‘Jodi No. 1’ Launched
Time Films International’s Jodi No. 1 was launched with the recording of two songs on Feb. 21 at Sunny Super Sounds. The songs were penned by Sudhakar Sharma, composed by Himesh Reshammiya, and rendered by Alka Yagnik, Kumar Sanu and Sonu Nigam. Starring Sanjay Dutt, Govinda, Sonali Bendre, Twinkle Khanna, Paresh Rawal, Ashok Saraf, Mahesh Thakur, Sayaji Shinde, Rekha Rao, Kannu Gill, Mukesh Rishi and Anupam Kher, the film is being directed by David Dhawan and produced by Dhirajlal Shah, Pravin Shah and Hasmukh Shah. Story-screenplay by Yunus Sejawal and Imtiaz Patel, dialogues by Rumi Jafri, cinematography by K. Prakash Rao, art by R. Varman, action by Mahendra Verma and sound by Jagmohan Anand are the other major credits. Sagoon Wagh is the executive producer. Regular shooting will start from March.
DO YOU KNOW?
RAM & MANDIR NOT MADE FOR EACH OTHER!
* Vasant Talkies of Akola has screened at least one blockbuster every year since 1994. In 1994, it screened HAHK..! which celebrated golden jubilee at the cinema in 1995. In 1996, it was RAJA HINDUSTANI, and in 1997, DIL TO PAGAL HAI, both of which ran for 15 weeks each. KKHH was the blockbuster of 1998, which had an 18-week run at Vasant. In 1999, it was HS-SH which is in its 17th week now. The 15 weeks’ collections of HAHK..!, RAJA HINDUSTANI, DTPH, KKHH and HS-SH at Vasant are 9,41,455/-, 14,15,297/-, 14,29,468/-, 16,11,606 and 18,83,989/- respectively. DDLJ, screened at Krishna, Akola, had collected 18,47,664/- in 15 weeks.
* Like last week, KN…PH was screened in 2 shows on Sunday in 6th week too, in 2 cinemas — Abhinayshri and Devshri — in the same complex in Indore. The film is running at Abhinayshri (besides Ellora) but, looking to the rush of people on Sunday, the running programme at Devshri was discontinued and KN…PH was shown in 2 shows. The collections of Abhinayshri and Ellora in 6th week are better than in 5th week.
* For the first time in the history of Nanded (Nizam), police had to be called in to control the crowds, at Jyoti cinema on the opening day of KN…PH. It collected more than 98% in the first week, and is now running in 2nd week.
Gujarat Budget Proposals To Hit Exhibitors Badly
Tax-Free Service Charge To Be Halved;
Compound Tax Facility To Be Restricted
Ent. Tax Reduction The Only Saving Grace
The Gujarat and Saurashtra trade, especially exhibitors of the state of Gujarat, are up in arms against the state government budget proposals which, while bringing down the rate of entertainment tax from 165% to 100%, have withdrawn/reduced several benefits available till now.
The tax-free service charge on every cinema ticket has been proposed to be reduced from the present Rs. 2 to Re. 1. Compound tax facility (option of composition in lieu of tax), available to cinemas located in towns with population in the range of 1 lakh to 3 lakh, has been withdrawn. Compound tax is currently applicable to cinemas situated in towns with population upto 3 lakh. But if the budget proposals are accepted, only cinemas in areas with population upto 1 lakh will be able to avail of the compound tax benefit.
The 100% tax exemption available to Gujarati films has been made perpetual from the current 2-year limit. But the subsidy of Rs. 5 lakh, available to Gujarati film producers, has been sought to be withdrawn by the government.
The budget proposals were presented on 22nd February and have evinced strong negative reactions from the Gujarat and Saurashtra sub-circuits of Bombay. Except for the relief in entertainment tax — reduction from the present 165% on nett admission rates to 100% — there is precious little to gladden the trade. In fact, most of the other budget proposals are likely to hit the exhibitors badly, which, in turn, will adversely affect the revenues of distributors too. The budget will be presented on 1st March.
In small (‘C’ class) centres, while the compound tax may reduce by Rs. 3,000 per month (due to the proposed reduction in entertainment tax from 165% to 100%), the loss due to the tax-free service charge being halved may run to the tune of Rs. 20,000 per month. The budget proposals of the Gujarat government may lead to more tax evasion because they threaten to question the very survival of cinemas. Closure of several cinemas, if the budget proposals are actually passed, is not ruled out.
A panic-stricken delegation of the Gujarat trade met the Gujarat finance minister, Vajubhai Vala, on 23rd February no sooner were the budget proposals announced. The entire exhibition sector of Gujarat and Saurashtra will meet on 1st March to chalk out the future course of action. Indefinite closure of cinemas all over the state from 17th March is not ruled out in the event that the finance minister does not see reason and goes ahead with the proposals.
3-E
Education-Entertainment-Enlightenment
Controversies & Cash Registers
Kamal Haasan must’ve anticipated that his Hey! Ram would be surrounded by controversies when it would be released, even while he was making the film. Although it sounds mean to say so, but viewed in a practical sense, it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that the actor-producer-director must’ve also expected that the controversies would give a boost to the film’s collections. In the past, films like Bombay, Bandit Queen and Fire have got a lot of mileage from the controversies surrounding them, and the mileage has translated into bountiful box-office returns. But while controversies have chased Hey! Ram too, box-office success is eluding it. Which proves that controversies can make a film run only if the film has the substance to hold public attention. Otherwise, no amount of stories around the film can help. A classic case of controversies not creating box-office success is that of the political film, Kissa Kursi Ka. The mileage it had got when its negative was burnt by Congressmen because it was a satire on Indira Gandhi, is unparalleled. But when the film was shot over again and released, it proved to be one of the biggest disasters of Indian cinema.
Varanasi: Capital Of Controversies?
Talking of controversies, Varanasi suddenly seems to have become the centre of all controversies concerning films. As if the ruckus created over the shooting of Deepa Mehta’s Water in the holy city was not enough, Congressmen protested, quite violently, on 24th February against the screening of Kamal Haasan’s Hey! Ram at Mazda Picture Palace in Varanasi. But unlike in the case of Water, where the disgruntled section of people in Varanasi were able to drive out the unit from the city, the protesters against Hey! Ram could not succeed in forcing the cinema management to remove the film.
Excellent Trailers
One word to describe the promotional trailers of Firoz Nadiadwala’s Hera Pheri is “excellent”. Firoz and his team have worked for months together on conceptualising and preparing the trailers, and the efforts have been worth their while. The impact these trailers will create can guarantee Firoz one thing — that his Hera Pheri, directed by Priyadarsan and starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty and Tabu, will take a very good start.
‘Badal’ DVD Rights: Salim Has His Say
Reacting to the item on sale of the DVD rights of Badal, in this column last week, producer Salim told Information, “The claim of Chandrakant Mehta of C.A. Corporation, that I have double-sold the DVD rights of my Badal, is a complete lie. Let him prove that he has the DVD rights. The said rights belonged to me, and I sold them to a third party, so what’s his problem? The standard Overseas rights agreement is so worded that it would appear as if the producer had sold everything — even the theatrical rights of Indian territories! — to the Overseas distributor. But that is not true. Mehta may claim that I had sold him the DVD rights first, but let him prove so. I have done no wrong and that is final.”
Maharashtra In Hollywood
When told that the Hollywood film, which was tops in the last weekend, was The Whole Nine Yards, a Marathi film producer quipped, “Oh, is it? Even Marathi films do well in Hollywood, is that so?” The poor guy thought, the Hollywood film had got its title from the Marathi 9-yard-long saree.
